I was having a tough week in school so I decided it would be best for me to take a short break, fly to Hong Kong and maybe give my new Rangefinder a spin in a city full of so much activity.

Before leaving though, I had dinner with my parents during their 23rd wedding anniversary.

I have never seen my folks show this much emotion in front of the camera, I’ve searched our boxes of photos and peeped through the trannies from yesteryear and saw nothing like this. They get a print for sure. 😉

I also spent my last final exams day with Caroline after her photoshoot for the Shu Uemura Black Book.

Upon landing in Hong Kong, I was greeted by a feisty little Airport Security lady who directed me ever so swiftly (in Hong Kong matter) to the baggage claim/immigration area cause I looked like I just stepped out of bed and had no clue where I was going, it was actually the slight cold I got in the plane.

She and the Hong Kong-ese Bitch Mikey. If Chris Weeks has the Austrian and Napolitano whores, I have Mikey… (Mikey sounds like a typical “short bus” kid name haha)

We hailed a cab to take us back to the apartments to get us settled in. Little did we know, we got a Formula III driver to take us home, he drove at half past the speed of cheetah and hugged the curbs tighter than a duck’s butthole. We got home in record time, with 55HKD on the meter, in Pesos, I felt cheated, in HKD, it was a deal.

Now Mikey, when he was still living in the Philippines was not exactly living the life, but I guess when you move to a different country, the cosmos just gift you with the most awesome stuff. Just check out the view from his room!

After settling in, Mikey and I grab a shuttle to the City Gate Mall and take the public bus to Discovery Bay. We had nifty little ‘Octopus Cards’ that word like ATM cards for the public transportation system and the 711’s, the Watson’s and department stores inside MTR stations, very very cool.

Tuesday night is Free Pizza night at Ebeneezer’s Pizza and Mutton, and Curry, and… you get it. They didn’t inform us about the free pizza’s in straight English so we ended up receiving 2 pepperoni pizzas, 2 waters, mutton, and kebabs. Overload.

And to top it all off, Mohinder here screws up our receipts and gave us number 39 (for our waters) and not 38 for our meal. We wait a good 20 minutes listening to the deepest Indian accent scream “NUMBUHR THURTHTY AAAAAAEIGHT!”

Stopped by a local bar after our belly busting bazaar of a dinner to booze up so we go to sleep easy later. We stop by Hemingway’s to grab a drink. I met Dave and Jeff there, they were living in the 00’s even if they were older than us. Dave here is an MIT graduate and loves beating the system. He didn’t hesitate to impart knowledge unto the youth and spent a good three hours teaching us how to BEAT THE SYSTEM.
Way to go. 😉

I never really used the mass transportation systems here in Manila because I am lucky enough to own a car. That and it’s hit or miss here if you know what I mean ;). I wish we had a safe and photo-friendly subway here.

a lotta eye candy in the MTR 😉

Haha, this dude was a character. Fifty years old, Nintendo DS Lite, and a bagel held close to his chest. Amazing how he had the coordination to balance on his seat, play a videogame, and feed himself.

a tiny ballerina

when I passed by this security camera for the first time, it reminded me of the sentry guns in Golden Eye.

it gets pretty packed too…

tiny little town near Ngong Ping where this lady took her son to the bus stop…

one of my favorite photos from my trip. they say street photos are about everything in the frame… I think this best describes life in Hong Kong, fast paced, but with gems every time you stop and look. 😉

*wanker alert. If you think Ken Rockwell is bad, feast your eyes on this fellow on a local forum 😉 He owns a D700, a 14-24 and a 24-70 but produces photos that… Ok, I’ll let you judge 😉 plus he seems to be the definitive guide on street photography too!

Bruce lee in “Hong Kong’s” Walk of Fame 😉

The rest of the week, Mikey and I spent getting lost in Hong Kong. The sights were always very interesting.

we got off at the station nearest SoHo and tried to look for the Man Mo temple to make touristy photos of people and maybe other photogs making photos. Of course, hunger got the best of us again so we decided to check out this little Singaporean resaturant in a tiny side street. Notice the resemblance between the Lady that took our orders and the painting at the back? 😉

so we finally find our temple being dwarfed by modernization. I’m surprised.

I hope we didn’t disturb this lady when HKB Mikey was being inconsiderate and said “Holy shit! It’s like a big hotbox!” with the incense and all…

for my pattern loving friends

we then took a little detour to Macau and met up with our dear friend Raquel Sparrow. She showed us around town too.

We had to stop by The Venetian ofcourse 😉 Creepy people in here…

Raquel almost knocked the Gondolier into the water when she tossed a 2 dowlah coin at the pond for luck…

I had to make sure I took photographs of tourists making souvenirs 🙂

Mikey and I needed a place to take a shower and leave some of our stuff. It’s not easy carry 20lbs of camera on your back. So we checked into Central Hotel… AKA FIGHT CLUB. You’ll love our tub. $38USD a night, not bad I thought at first, till I found cheetos under the bed, and bloody bandages in the bathroom…

We then stopped by a nice little Pub owned by Raquel’s mantoy, Tom just in time for Rugby Night. I wish I took more photos instead of just drinking.

I had about three short days back in Hong Kong after Macau, and made sure to visit as much Hong Kong as I could. Mikey and I hit the streets of Mong Kok and it was sheer madness. Like 300 Madness. This is Mong Kok!

The dizzying view up…

and the barf cam. Look! ants!

They don’t call it Chinese checkers… just checkers…

Look at all the neon signs!

I wish I had composed myself better when I was in Mong Kok… Great place for street photos if you ask me. Full of life and character.

The next couple of days were set aside for light shooting and some shopping, and most importantly, Food Tripping.

Kind like this guy 🙂 One of the more carefree characters I saw in Hong Kong, he enjoyed every single bite of his sandwich despite being looked on by me. 😛

Knutsford Steps. Very picturesque. I wish I had a better model.

Octopus Balls, 10 piece meal.

One third of what we had for breakfast that day… The dimsum in Hong Kong cannot be beat.

Mikey prepping up for a home cooked meal… (read: microwavable dimsum)

“The India Curry Club” haha!

Genki sushi would have to be my favorite place. The food never seems to run out, and the evil sushi chefs always seem to know what you want. Look up, grab a plate, eat, rather, rinse, repeat! Free green tea too.

$200++HKD Later…

forgot to mention earlier that we dropped by a Toys’R’Us while in Hong Kong and saw their new line of Elmo’s. “Scare the living heck out of you Elmo” The reason they put him in this glass box was cause he is definitely ill. He kept slamming his head against the glass like he wanted out… he was laughing allright…

Every journey has to come to an end, and mine did too. I’ll definitely visit Hong Kong again very soon… I love the food, and the streets.